1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connecting unit for a wick of cold cathode fluorescent lamp.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) have become popular due to their small size, thin thickness, low power consumption, no radiation, and long life expectancy. They have been widely applied in desktop computers, notebook computers, personal digital assistants (PDA), cellular phones, and other electronic devices. Liquid crystal displays are also gradually replacing the cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors and traditional televisions. Since the liquid crystal displays do not emit light by themselves, a backlight unit is installed at the backside of the panel for providing light to display images.
Backlight units are typically composed of a plurality of cold cathode fluorescent lamps for increasing their overall brightness. In order to reduce cost and incorporate a power converter, a connecting unit, such as a conductor or a printed circuit board, is often provided to accommodate the wicks of the lamps.
Taiwan Patent No. 258233 discloses a connecting unit for the cold cathode fluorescent lamps, in which the connecting unit is shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of cold cathode fluorescent lamps 10 and a connecting unit 14 for supporting the wicks 12 of the lamps 10 are provided. Specifically, the connecting unit 14 includes a plurality of holes 16 for accommodating the wicks 12. The conventional means of connecting the lamps 10 and the connecting unit 14 mainly involves utilizing the wicks 12 of the lamps 10 to penetrate the holes 16 of the connecting unit 14, and performing a soldering process to fix the wicks 12 onto the connecting unit 14. However, if either the lamps 10 or the connecting unit 14 is damaged during the assembly, testing, or transportation process, the lamps 10 must be detached from the connecting unit 14 for repairing or providing a room for the replacing unit. The presence of the holes 16 on the connecting unit 14 ultimately increases the difficulty for detaching the lamps 10 from the connecting unit 14, which may even cause further damage to the connecting unit 14 or to the lamps 10.
Hence, another connecting unit has been introduced to improve the aforementioned problems. Please refer to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is illustrates another connecting unit for the cold cathode fluorescent lamps according to the prior art. As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of cold cathode fluorescent lamps 20 and a connecting unit 24 for supporting the wicks 22 of the lamps 20 are provided. The connecting unit 24 includes a plurality of openings 26 for accommodating the wicks 22 of the cold cathode fluorescent lamps 20. By utilizing the openings 26, the wicks 22 can be easily detached from the connecting unit 24, thereby reducing damages to the wicks 22 of the lamps 20 while the wicks are detaching from the connecting unit 24.
Nevertheless, the connecting unit 24 shown in FIG. 2 still causes another drawback. In general, cold cathode fluorescent lamps 20 are driven by high voltages to generate light. As the lamps 20 are driven by high voltages, the wicks 22 of the lamps will generate a significant amount of heat. Since the lamps 20 are typically attached to the connecting unit 24 via a soldering process, the heat generated by the wicks 22 will ultimately melt the solder material and cause the wicks 22 to slip out of the connecting unit 24. The situation becomes worse when the liquid crystal display is designed vertically, and the result will often cause the malfunction of the lamps 20.